41 “Job, can you catch Leviathan* with a fishhook? Can you tie his tongue with a rope? ²Can you put a rope through his nose, or a hook through his jaw? ³Will Leviathan beg you to let him go free? Will he speak to you with gentle words? ⁴Will Leviathan make an agreement with you and promise to serve you forever? ⁵Will you play with Leviathan like you would play with a bird? Will you put a rope on him so your servant girls can play with him? ⁶Will fishermen try to buy Leviathan from you? Will they cut him in pieces and sell him to the merchants?* ⁷Can you throw spears into Leviathan’s skin or head? ⁸“Job, if you ever lay a hand on Leviathan, you will never do it again! Just think about the battle that would be! ⁹Do you think you can defeat Leviathan? Well, forget it! There is no hope! Just looking at him will scare you! ¹⁰No person is brave enough to wake him up and make him angry. “Well, no person can stand against me either!* ¹¹I (God) owe no person anything. Everything under heaven belongs to me.* ¹²“Job, I will tell you about Leviathan’s legs, his strength and graceful shape. ¹³No person can pierce his skin. His skin is like armor!* ¹⁴No person can force Leviathan to open his jaws. The teeth in his mouth scare people. ¹⁵Leviathan’s back has rows of shields tightly sealed together. ¹⁶The shields are so close to each other that no air can pass between them. ¹⁷The shields are joined to each other. They hold together so tightly that they can’t be pulled apart. ¹⁸When Leviathan sneezes, it is like lightning flashing out. His eyes shine like the light of dawn. ¹⁹Burning torches come out from his mouth. Sparks of fire shoot out. ²⁰Smoke pours from Leviathan’s nose like burning weeds under a boiling pot. ²¹Leviathan’s breath makes coals burn, and flames shoot from his mouth. ²²Leviathan’s neck is very powerful. People are afraid and run away from him. ²³There is no soft spot in his skin. It is hard like iron. ²⁴Leviathan’s heart is like a rock, he has no fear. It is hard like a lower millstone.* ²⁵When Leviathan gets up, strong people are afraid. They run away when Leviathan swings his tail. ²⁶Swords, spears, and darts hit Leviathan, but they only bounce off. Those weapons don’t hurt him at all! ²⁷Leviathan breaks iron as easily as straw. He breaks bronze like rotten wood. ²⁸Arrows don’t make Leviathan run away. Rocks bounce off of him like straw. ²⁹When a wood club hits Leviathan, it feels like a piece of straw to him. He laughs when men throw spears at him. ³⁰The skin on Leviathan’s belly is like sharp pieces of broken pottery. He leaves tracks in the mud like a threshing board.* ³¹Leviathan stirs up the water like a boiling pot. He makes it bubble like a pot of boiling oil. ³²When Leviathan swims, he leaves a path behind himself. He stirs up the water, and leaves white foam behind him. ³³No animal on earth is like Leviathan. He is an animal made without fear. ³⁴Leviathan looks down on the proudest animals. He is king over all the wild animals. {And I, the Lord, made Leviathan!}”

Leviathan We are not sure what this animal is. It might be a crocodile or a giant sea monster. merchant(s) A person who earns his living by buying and selling things. And no person can stand against me either Or “No person can stand and fight him.” I … me Or, “No person has come near to leviathan and survived—no one under heaven!” His skin is like armor Or, “No one can approach him with a bridle.” lower millstone A flat rock for grinding grain. Another stone was put on top of this flat rock. Then the grain was ground into flour between the stones. threshing board A board with many pieces of sharp stones or pieces of metal. Farmers pulled these boards over grain to break the hulls away from the grain.

Job Answers the Lord

42 Then Job answered the Lord. Job said, ²“Lord, I know you can do everything. You make plans, and nothing can change or stop your plans. ³Lord, you asked this question: ‘Who is this ignorant person that is saying these foolish things?’* Lord, I talked about things that I didn’t understand. I talked about things that were too amazing for me to understand. ⁴“Lord, you said to me, ‘Listen Job, and I will speak. I will ask you questions, and you will answer me.’ ⁵Lord, in the past, I heard about you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. ⁶And Lord, I am ashamed of myself. Lord, I am so sorry. As I sit in the dust and ashes,* I promise to change my heart and my life.”

The Lord Gives Job’s Wealth Back

⁷After the Lord finished talking to Job, he spoke to Eliphaz from Teman. The Lord said to Eliphaz, “I am angry at you and your two friends. Why? Because you didn’t say right things about me. But Job is my servant. Job said right things about me. ⁸So now Eliphaz, get seven bulls and seven rams. Take them to my servant Job. Kill them and offer them as a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer. Then I won’t give you the punishment that you deserve. You should be punished because you were very foolish. You didn’t say right things about me. But my servant Job said right things about me.” ⁹So Eliphaz from Teman, and Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah obeyed the Lord. Then the Lord answered Job’s prayer. ¹⁰Job prayed for his friends. And the Lord made Job successful again. God gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹Then all of Job’s brothers and sisters and all of the people that knew Job before came to his house. They all ate a big meal with Job. They comforted Job. They were sorry that the Lord had brought so much trouble to Job. Each person gave Job a piece of silver* and a gold ring. ¹²The Lord blessed Job with even more things than he had in the beginning. Job got 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 2,000 cows, and 1,000 female donkeys. ¹³Job also got seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴Job named the first daughter Jemimah. Job named the second daughter Keziah. And Job named the third daughter Keren Happuch. ¹⁵Job’s daughters were among the most beautiful women in all the country. And Job even gave part of his property to his daughters—they each got a share of the property*, just like their brothers. ¹⁶So, Job lived for 140 years more. He lived to see his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, and his great-great grandchildren. ¹⁷Job lived to be a very old man who had lived a good long life.

Who … things Or, “Who is this person darkening (hiding) advice with ignorant words.” dust and ashes People sat in dust and ashes to show that they were very sad about something. piece of silver Literally, “a Keshitah.” This was a measure that was used in the time of the Patriarchs. See Gen. 33:19 and Josh. 24:32. Job … property Usually a person’s property was divided only among the sons, but here even Job’s daughters also got part of his property.